Discovering our history: A historical investigation into mathematics education

In this paper we describe the development of an investigation into the field of the history of mathematics education, based on library material and archival documents. We describe the origins of this study, the phases of the work carried out, the methodologies adopted, and the results obtained until now. Such studies are important, because reflecting on the didactical choices made in the past can be useful for improving mathematics education and teacher training. The investigation focuses on a particular moment of the history of mathematics education in secondary schools of our place of origin, i.e., the transition from the regulations of the Habsburg Empire to those of the Kingdom of Italy, after the First Word War, in the city of Trieste (now in Italy) and in its surrounding region. The interest of this study is not merely local, in so far as it treats the comparison between the different didactical methodologies used in the two countries (the one more oriented to practical application, the other more theoretical) in the context of the contemporary international situation.